The world’s most obsessed-over mystery has a new twist. It wasn’t a bat. It wasn’t a lab leak. It has to do with something called a raccoon dog (which I’d try to avoid, Covid or not). Science: Unearthed genetic sequences from China market may point to animal origin of COVID-19.

+ “A new analysis of genetic sequences collected from the market shows that raccoon dogs being illegally sold at the venue could have been carrying and possibly shedding the virus at the end of 2019. It’s some of the strongest support yet, experts told me, that the pandemic began when SARS-CoV-2 hopped from animals into humans.” The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic.